Inhabitants of the Colombian town of Tibu, on the northern border with Venezuela, have fled following a wave of violence that has left at least 80 people dead in clashes between two armed groups in the last week.

The Colombian border village of Tres Bocas has become a ghost town as residents flee to neighboring Venezuela to escape a new wave of violence that has left at least 80 people dead and displaced thousands in Colombia’s Catatumbo region.

The unusually deadly violence delivers a devastating blow to the “total peace” program of the country’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro.

More than 80 people were killed in the country’s northeast over the weekend following the government’s failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.

At least 80 people are dead and more than 18,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials say, amid fierce clashes between two rival armed groups on the border with Venezuela.

More than 8,000 civilians fled the violence, with many seeking shelter in government facilities or hiding in the mountains.

At least 80 people were killed in northeast Colombia following failed attempts at peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said.

Venezuela closed its border with Colombia on Friday until next Monday after denouncing an "international conspiracy" just hours before leftist Nicolás Maduro is sworn in for a third consecutive term amid allegations of fraud by the opposition.

In just five days, bloodshed has been reported across three Colombian departments -- from the remote Amazon jungle in the south to the mountainous northeastern border with Venezuela, where fighting has displaced almost 20,

Colombia has suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, for a second time in less than a year after blaming the rebel group for violence that has been affecting the northeastern

Terrified residents carrying backpacks and belongings on overladen motorcycles, boats, or crammed onto the backs of open trucks, fled the region over the weekend.

Colombia's president on Monday declared a "state of emergency" in response to bloody guerrilla violence that has killed more than 100 people and displaced 11,000 in just a few days.